Friday, May 4, 2012

This recent article about some sad customer that tried to get into the "world's worst laundromat" should be a wake up call for crap hole laundromats everywhere - but of course it won't. This sad sack hated the crappy laundromat so much he went and blogged about the experience. Now it's gone viral. Being in the biz - I never call out people by name, or bad vendors by name or some other crap hole by name - even when I wrote the equally world famous Is this a Laundromat or the Mouth of Hell?

I had left it anonymous. Customers on the other hand, with mobile cameras, videos, and blogs make it sure easy to find out more about even the smallest of small businesses.

I went to foursquare the other day (a location based check-in technology) - I was floored with all the check-ins at the laundromat, and to find the "mayor" of the store (most check-ins) right there on the page. The "mayor" also had taken a fantastic photo of our store, gave us a great rating and description and posted the whole thing on foursquare. She basically created a profile for our store that had been live for months and we just recently found out about it.

With that, here's the article about the "worlds worst place" ahem another crapola laundromat. Best line from this article is when the blogger concludes: "The only possible explanation for a visit to Oak and
Scott Laundry is to educate your children about man’s ability to suffer
at the hands of fellow man. Otherwise, avoid 991 Oak Street like the
plague that it is."

Higher than normal temperatures in the east and Midwest of America have depressed
US natural gas prices over the past few months, when consumption is supposed
to be at its strongest. “There doesn’t seem to be a floor [to the price] right
now,” said Laurent Key, natural gas analyst at Société Générale in New York.

Just over half of US households use natural gas for heat, and while January
is supposed to be the coldest month of the year, stocks in storage could this
month rise as high as 21 per cent more than normal, Mr Key noted.

The mild weather has come as US production has been growing rapidly on the
back of the shale boom, caused prompted by the development of resources that
were previously uncommercial. According to the US Department of Energy, natural
gas output in October, the latest month for which data are available, marked a
record high.

Nymex February natural gas futures traded at $2.66 per million British
thermal units on Friday, the lowest level since September 2009.

While the downward trend in prices is eventually expected to make it
unprofitable to produce natural gas, and lead to production cutbacks, many gas
wells also produce higher-value liquids such as petroleum. For some producers,
the cost of pumping natural gas is virtually “zero”, according to
analysts.

With stocks expected to remain high even if temperatures suddenly turn
colder than normal, many analysts expect prices to fall further. “The market
fears a collapse in prices below $2 per mBtu, which cannot be ruled out,” noted
Barclays Capital.

Amid such bearish sentiment, investor bets on further declines have been
rising. The total number of Nymex natural gas futures contracts outstanding,
known as open interest, rose to a record 1,115,469 lots on Thursday, up by a
third in the past year and 10 per cent in the past week. The combination of
rising open interest and falling prices generally indicates that traders and
investors have added to their short positions.

However, Anthony Yuen, analyst at Citigroup, cautioned that “a bullish
weather report could be a catalyst”, noting positive news could prompt a
scramble for investors to cover their positions. The market could also
eventually turn as producers cut the number of rigs, said Mr Yuen. The number of
rigs deployed to drill for gas has fallen to 791 from a recent peak of 936 last
October, according to Baker Hughes, and a continued decline could affect
longer-term contracts.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Whirlpool to cut 5,000 jobs to reduce costs

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. plans to
cut 5,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its workforce in North America and
Europe, as it faces soft demand and higher costs for materials.
The world's biggest appliance maker also on Friday cut its 2011
earnings outlook drastically and reported third-quarter results that
missed expectations, hurt by higher costs and a slowdown in emerging
markets. Shares fell 12 percent in premarket trading.
The company, whose brands include Maytag and KitchenAid, has been
squeezed by soft demand since the recession and rising costs for
materials such as steel and copper. Due to its size, Whirlpool's
performance provides a window on the economy because it indicates
whether consumers are comfortable spending on big-ticket items.
Whirlpool has raised prices to combat higher costs, but demand for
items like refrigerators and washing machines remains tight. Whirlpool
is also facing discount pressure from competitors.
To offset slowing North American sales, Whirlpool has turned to
emerging markets. But the company said Friday that sales have slowed
there, too.
Steep costs and the dour global economy are affecting the entire
appliance industry. Swedish appliance maker Electrolux said Wednesday
that its third-quarter net income fell 39 percent and cut its forecast
for demand in North American and Europe for the year
Whirlpool jobs to be cut are mostly in North America and Europe. They
include 1,200 salaried positions and the closing of the company's Fort
Smith, Ark., plant.
The Fort Smith plant shutdown will affect 884 hourly workers and 90
salaried employees. An additional 800 workers were on layoff from the
factory and on a recall list.
Whirlpool will also relocate dishwasher production from Neunkirchen, Germany, to Poland in January 2012.
The company expects the moves will save $400 million by the end of 2013.
Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool's third-quarter net income more
than doubled to $177 million, or $2.27 per share, from $79 million, or
$1.02 per share. Adjusted earnings of $2.35 per share fell short of
analyst expectations for $2.73 per share.
Revenue rose 2 percent to $4.63 billion, short of expectations for $4.74 billion.
"Our results were negatively impacted by recessionary demand levels
in developed countries, a slowdown in emerging markets and high levels
of inflation in material costs," CEO Jeff Fettig said.
Unit shipments fell in all regions except Asia, where they rose 4 percent.
In North America, revenue fell 2 percent to $2.4 billion, and in Latin America, revenue rose 8 percent to $1.2 billion.
The company now expects 2011 net income will be $4.75 to $5.25 per
share. Its prior guidance was net income would be at the low end of a
range between $7.25 and $8.25 per share.
Whirlpool's stock fell $7.10, or 11.7 percent, to $53.37 in premarket trading. The stock has already sunk 32 percent this year.—Copyright 2011 Associated Press

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Been away for awhile, but that' why I got into the Laundry biz so I could eventually be completely away from computer screens! Ever notice when you're reading anything whether on the web or your phone the information rolls over your brain like water over river rocks as you skip from one article to the next - you create nothing, your output is zero. That's why we all need to get away and unplug.

Anyhow, it took me over an hour to go through all the recent comments. I answered any I could - keep interacting - it's fun.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Not sure what happened this year but people said "screw it let's wash everything we own, use the big machines and do it over and over again". For whatever reason, the smashing of 100 pounds of clothes into toploaders (like last year) has ended and we've been having the biggest weekends ever consistently.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

ABC always stirring sh!t up with their 'what would you do?' show. Most of the stuff they do is over the top (and never seen in the real world). The dramatics this time were played out at a laundromat. Let the good times and video roll... (On another note, have we been seeing a lot of commercials shot in laundromats lately?) Laundromats are becoming the new IT thing - Ha

Profile

The LC is an Entrepreneur with different business interests. Very interested in passive income streams as well as do it yourself businesses. Discussions outside the sexy laundromat industry are welcome also (Real Estate, Car Washes, sites, blogs, adsense etc.) There are 'comment' links at the bottom of every article where you can interact, ask questions or add comments.